“Make friends with change”
- Ram Dass
So much change! So much of what we took for granted evaporated over the space of a few days and we’re left in lockdown: forced to spend more time than ever with ourselves. Personally, I feel that everything happens for a reason. Whether you call it the karma of humanity, fate, God’s will or just the environment bringing itself back into natural balance, it’s for SURE freaking most of us out. So during this extending period of lockdown, spending days and days talking to myself, my dad, my dad’s girlfriend and four chickens, what else am I doing to stay my usually sparkly self?
My Rituals- Extended
My mornings start at 5.30 everyday. And in the pre-corona times, I'd usually spend around 45 minutes doing my little bits and bob but now, due to the excess of time and a lot less yoga classes to teach (!) I’ve extended that a little.
Mornings are my favourite time anyway so I’m pretty lucky in this way. I love that time when the house is so silent, where it’s just me and the birds and the moon peeping through the clouds. I love to spend a few minutes in the cosyness of bed contemplating the day ahead and savouring that juiciness of the quiet before the world wakes up.
I feel like those first few thoughts that you let enter your mind in a morning can carry an impact with you throughout your entire day so I’m quite careful about what media I expose myself to as soon as I wake up. But don’t get me wrong, when midday comes around, hit me with the dance tunes!
I usually start with a round of japa (mala) meditation, do a little chanting, meditate, do my daily dance (awaken that kundalini shakti!), read and journal a little before going live on the Daily Dedication Meditation (DDM) page to stream a 15 minute meditation each morning at 8am. From there, my boyfriend and I sometimes meet on Zoom and go through some gentle stretches and finally, studying for around 20 minutes on the Inner Power of Love training that I’m currently doing. Phew. After that I need a cuppa tea for sure.
But this has been an evolution.It didn’t spring up overnight but rather started with the commitment I made to myself around 5 years ago to have some time in the morning just for me. And it started with 10 minutes! Getting up ten minutes earlier to do.. well.. anything! Some days it was physical yoga, others just breathing, some days it was meditating and some days it was falling asleep meditating! But it’s the commitment, the dedication to yourself that matters. Saying I AM going to have five/ten/twenty minutes to myself EVERY morning. To Just be. To contemplate. To process.
But this ritual of taking the time in the morning just for me is paramount to my mental wellbeing during lockdown. And the beauty is, because I’ve got so much more time, I can learn new things: new mantra, listen to new teachings on YouTube, try more meditations than I ever would have been able to do during a “normal” week.
Finding Purpose
I’m doing a lot of ‘inner’ yoga work at the minute and one concept I’m learning about is Karmamala and the misconception that we need to ‘do’ in order to ‘be’; i.e. I need to do good things in order to believe that I am a good person, or, I need to finish everything on my to-do list today in order to feel productive and worthy. And I totallyyyy need to work on my Karmamala because I am a do-er!
Even in lockdown I manage to fill my days from 5.30am – 10pm with DOING. (I’m working on it, okay?) But some of the things I’m doing are really giving me a sense of purpose when everything else feels a little topsy-turvy.
I mentioned early about the DDM group which is a beautiful, beautiful space where many of us are delving deeper into the meditation side of yoga with a new meditation everyday. Connecting with people in this space every morning gives me a sense of purpose; like I’m still able to still offer service to the world even from a distance.
Also, I can’t explain how enjoyable it is doing the Zoom sessions each week! Seeing everyone’s faces is a true pocket of sunshine in my day and I plan on continuing these sessions for as long as we’re all in this for. I’m so so blessed that many of you have chosen to continue your home yoga practice through subscribing to my site; and to support me financially with the subscription fee that you pay each month. I’m truly so grateful to each of you. Bringing these teachings to you, I feel is my purpose in life, and I’m so blessed that so many of you are finding the content valuable, useful, and, most of all, enjoyable!
Staying Focussed
Also, I’m at the tail end of finishing my undergraduate degree in Business Management so this is a really great focal point for a lot of my energy throughout this period. We’re not sure what’s going to happen with graduation (supposed to take place in June this year) but either way, I can’t wait to finally say, after SIX YEARS, that I have a degree!! It’s been a huge, huge part of my life for so long that it’s going to feel strange not studying! However, I’m sure the ‘doing’ part of my brain will quickly find a new project that I can sink my teeth in to!
Counting My Blessings
But I feel the practice that’s keeping me the most sane is counting my blessings. I and many of us could have it a lot, lot worse. I’m sharing my isolation with people I love, I have a garden I can (not) sunbathe in (us gingers and the sun aren't the best of friends), I have animals I can talk to, I have friends I can FaceTime and Houseparty with, I have enough money for food and I am a part of this beautiful community which, even in isolation, I never feel alone in.
So, thank-you. Thank-you for staying in touch. Thank-you for joining the Zoom sessions. Thank-you for subscribing. Thank-you for your messages. Thank-you for continuing to choose me as your yoga teacher, as your guide. The part I’m most looking forward to when this is all over? THE HUGS. I’m getting serious withdrawals.
Stay safe,
Love,
Grace xo
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